Originally from Japan, Michiko Itatani asserts that she is a “made in America” artist. Her paintings reflect her lifelong interest in science fiction and the cosmic, and are inhabited by hovering circles of ight that suggest a spirit, a possibility, a place to go, Infinite Hope.

Itatani is a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she has been a professor of painting since 1979. She has received numerous prestigious awards including the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, two Illinois Arts Council Artist’s Fellowships; and National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Her work is held in the public collections of the The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO; Wright Museum, Beloit, WI; Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA; Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland; American Embassy Permanent Collection, Brasilia, Brazil; Villa-Haiss-Museum, Zell am Harmersback, Germany; Tokoha Museum, Shizuoka, Japan; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; Musee du Quebec, Quebec, Canada; Museu D’art Contemporani (MACBA), Barcelona, Spain and others.

Peter Pincus‘ elegant ceramics are instantly recognizable as his alone. the slip-cast porcelain vessels that make up Inset build on Pincus’ exploration of the history of ceramics, his technical expertise and understanding of color. The result is a dynamic perceptual experience as though an intimate tactile Op art.

In the world of ceramics Peter Pincus is a master of perfection. In his work, color and form are bound together as if neither could exist without the other. The complexity and hard work of Pincus’ studio practice is concealed from us in the final presentation. The creative invention of form, the precise technique of developing and casting complex molds, and the honing of a finely tuned color palette seem effortless and we see only beauty, exquisite color and form unmarred by struggle or hard work. Perfection of form is often delineated by slivers of cast colored porcelain, fine tuned to color harmonies, more akin to painting than to clay, or grey scales, tuned as though music.

Pincus holds a M.F.A. and B.F.A. from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He currently holds the position of Visiting Assistant Professor in Ceramics at the School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology, NY. His ceramics can be found in numerous public and private collections, including the recent acquisition by the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO.

Cary Esser‘s new series of intimate ceramic wall works, Minerality, explore the alchemy of glaze and the mystery of lacuna. Variations of form and the skin of surface on Esser’s book-sized structures are glazed with crystal, lusters of percious metal and vibrant color.

An ongoing connection between organic and geometric structures in my work has played a role in the creation and evolution of each new series. My early sensibilities as an artist were influenced by our built environments, and in particular by tiles and ornament with motifs of flora and fauna.

Esser is the Chair of Ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute. Her work is in the collections of Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS; Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO; Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT; John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI, and numerous others.

Patty Carroll continues her exploration of every-woman in Miss Adventures a series of photographic, primarily domestic, tableaus that her anonymous women inhabit. Bad judgement and overwhelming décor choices pave the road to happiness.

The photographs of Patty Carroll are held in the permanent collections of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Library of Congress, Washington, DC, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC and numerous others.

Inspired by the colors, shapes, lines and textures in nature, I enjoy developing layers of history within my work using paint and mark making. Each mark, scrape, and tear reveals the history and beauty underneath the surface. I enjoy finding hidden beauty in a landscape and employ abstraction to bring forth the essence of the scene. Using oil paint with cold wax medium in my paintings allows me to create many transparent and opaque layers which I can excavate into, thus revealing hidden treasures underneath.

It is my hope that the art I create brings the viewer into a closer looking experience and succeeds in expressing the beauty, intrigue and depth in the world around us. – Linda Nickell

Currently residing in Leawood, KS, Linda Nickell enjoys creating art in her home studio space.